Taxpayers in Poland are expected to take part in the creation of a new register for tax purposes. Poland introduces the Central Register of Beneficial Owners (or CRBR in short) as a result of the implementation of the EU Directive on preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering or terrorist financing.

Beneficial owner

The already existing registers, like the recently launched whitelist of taxpayers, will be followed by another publicly available register, this time containing information about the ownership structure of companies. This data on beneficial owners of Polish companies will be publicly available. Under the Act on Counteracting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, beneficial owners are natural persons or natural persons exercising direct or indirect control through their rights resulting from legal or factual circumstances, enabling them to have decisive influence over actions or activities undertaken by the company.

The beneficial owner may also be the natural person(s) on whose behalf the business relationship is established, or the occasional transaction is carried out. In the further part of the definition, the Polish Act on Counteracting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing provides specific situations to which this definition will apply.

Which information needs to be provided?

The following information should be provided as part of the notification to the register:

1. Identification of the company:

• Name (company),
• Type of organization,
• Registered office,
• National Court Register (KRS) number,
• Taxpayer identification number (NIP).

2. Identification of the beneficial owner and the member of the governing body or partner authorized to represent the company:

• Name and surname,
• Citizenship,
• Country of residence,
• Universal Electronic System for Civil Registration Number (PESEL) or date of birth,
• Scope and nature of the participation or on the rights of the beneficial owner.

Who shall submit the notification?

Companies required to report information on the CRBR are the following:

• General partnerships,
• Limited partnerships,
• Limited joint-stock partnerships,
• Limited liability companies,
• Joint-stock companies (excluding public companies).

The information will have to be submitted by a person authorized to represent the obliged entity via the Register’s website. Applications will be submitted under penalty of criminal liability.

Deadlines

Companies registered in the National Court Register before the effective date of the regulations concerning the CRBR (i.e. before October 13, 2019) are obliged to report information on beneficial owners by 13 April 2020.

On the other hand, entities who were registered in the National Court Register after October 13, 2019 are obliged to notify the data no later than within 7 days from the date of entry into the National Court Register.

In the case of updating the information provided in the CRBR, the deadline for submitting updates will be 7 days from the date of their change.

Jakub Czerski

Senior Tax Manager | Accace Poland

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